Yeah, I’m checking out on this team. The Dallas Cowboys may have beaten the Los Angeles Chargers 20-17 on Monday Night Football, but their erratic play just shows how far away they are from being true Super Bowl contenders.
Even when they play pretty well, they still look so far away from the Super Bowl.
Despite winning a close-fought, 20-17 win over the dangerous Los Angeles Chargers on Monday Night football to improve their record to 4-2, the Dallas Cowboys still look like pretenders to a Super Bowl title as they just don’t have the “it”. And, to be honest, we really should have expected this at the start of the season.
Alright, I know a lot of Cowboys fans will be jumping for joy and sounding off on Twitter how “the Cowboys are back”, “them ‘Boys are the best in the NFC”, or “the Cowboys are just 1 game behind the Eagles and 49ers”, but I’m sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but the Cowboys just aren’t going to win the Super Bowl. In fact, they aren’t even going to make the NFC Championship game…again.
Sure, the Cowboys being able to overcome loss on the defensive side of the football, such as Trevon Diggs, and having one of the league’s worst Redzone offenses to snatch a 4th quarter victory in hostile territory over the LA Chargers…even though the Chargers are definitely the “little brother” team in LA.
Plus, it is also very impressive how the Cowboys defense made Justin Herbert, who is one the NFL’s Top-8 QBs, look as bad as OC Kellen Moore was as an NFL QB with him only completing 22/37 passes (59%), 227 passing yards, 2 TDs, and a game-losing interception into the hands of Stephon Gilmore (3 tackles, 1 PD, 1 INT) with under 1:30 left on the clock.
Micah Parsons (2 tackles, 1 sack, 1 TFL, 3 QB hits), DeMarcus Lawerence (3 tackles, 1 PD), Gillmore, Jayron Kearse (7 tackles, 1 QB hit), etc. all looked really good on D and showed that the Cowboys defense, despite getting banged up and humiliated against the 49ers and Cardinals, still has a little pride and fight left in them.
And, to wrap up my compliments of the Cowboys, Dak Prescott actually played a fantastic game yesterday as he not only was able to get out of the pocket and provide a dual-threat option with him rushing 7 CAR, 40 yards, and 1 rushing TD, but he also was extremely accurate in the pocket as he completed 21/30 passes, had 271 yards, 1 TD, no turnovers, and connected with CeeDee Lamb (7 REC, 117 yards), Brandin Cooks (4 REC, 36 yards, 1 TD), and Tony Pollard (15 CAR, 30 yards; 6 REC, 80 yards) on key moments of the game.
But, at the end of the day, have Cowboys fans forgotten who they were playing? It was THE CHARGERS!!!! Did anyone really expect one of the NFL’s most horrendous chokers to actually perform in the big moment and upset the Cowboys? On a primetime, Monday Night Football game no less? I hope not!
The Cowboys offense has not improved it’s Red Zone offense whatsoever, and they are probably going to end up one of the Bottom-5 Red Zone scoring teams in the entire league.
The Cowboys had four red zone drives against the Chargers and they scored just two touchdowns (50%; league average is 52% and the median is 53-55%…but are the Cowboys a “league average team”?), which really isn’t good enough for an offense that has Tony Pollard, CeeDee Lamb, Brandin Cooks, Jake Ferguson (1 REC, 15 yards), Michael Gallup (3 REC, 24 yards), Tyron Smith, Tyler Smith, Terence Steele, and Zack Martin on the offensive line, and Dak Prescott.
It’ll win you games against the Chargers, who couldn’t do anything as Justin Herbert was either throwing the ball 20 feet into each sideline on every throw or he was getting driven 20 feet into the ground by the Dallas D that racked up 56 tackles, 1 sack, 2 TFL, 6 PD, and 8 QB hits, but you won’t beat the Eagles, 49ers, Chiefs, Lions, or Bengals with that inefficiency.
Now, if you want to say that the Chargers defense, led by Khalil Mack (4 tackles, 1 sack, 1 TFL, 1 QB hit), Asante Samuel Jr. (6 tackles), Kenneth Murray Jr. (9 tackles, 1 TFL), Eric Kendricks (8 tackles), and Derwin James (3 tackles), played really well and disrupted the Cowboys offense with their 52 tackles, 5 sacks, 7 TFL, 2 PD, and 6 QB hits, I’ll grant you that.
The Chargers defense did play well…until Brandon Staley made one of his classic boneheaded 4th down calls or the spotlight really started shinning down on LA and they crumbled as they always do.
But I’m sticking by my claims about the Cowboys offense. They ARE NOT GOOD ENOUGH to compete against the best teams in the NFL as they either will crumble in the red zone and not capitalize on scoring situations, or Dak Prescott will freak out and start throwing picks to opposing defenses like he’s dishing out candy to defenses.
Maybe I’ll be proven wrong…but I don’t think I will be.
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